15 February 2013 12:56 PM

Stick to the dancing, hombres, and let the bulls run free…

Apologists for bullfighting like to pretend that it’s some great dramatic spectacle that dignifies the participants and enriches the spectators.

That famous old phoney Ernest Hemingway wrote his grand apologia for bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon, which was filled with all manner of poppycock about the ‘corrida’ being held to celebrate the bravery of the bull.

Tough luck on the poor old bull that the only way to celebrate his bravery is to stick a long sword through his neck. If there were to be a celebration, presumably any sensible bull would opt for a party at TGIFs.

In recent years, however, the Spanish have been shunning the gory spectacle (Catalonia has actually banned it).

Thanks particularly to its extreme recession, which has led to a shortage of public money needed to put on big-scale bullfights, the number of corridas has rapidly fallen.

But now Spain’s answer to UKIP is complaining that being anti-bullfighting in Spain isn’t patriotic. A petition has been set up to promote the idea that bullfighting is part of Spain’s cultural fabric and needs to be protected by the government.

This is all baloney of course. Bullfighting is nothing more than vile cruelty. Any tourists who are misguided enough to go along to watch a bullfight are enabling a revolting practice.

Bullfighting, like bear baiting and cockfighting, is something that should have been outlawed centuries ago. Spain needs to worry about getting its economy right, not wasting time harking back to some golden age of Carmen and flamenco spectacle.